As the head of Sugar Bowl Academy, former alpine racer Tracy Keller
is raising a young school right BY BRYCE HUBNER

Three years ago, California’s Sugar Bowl Academy (SBA)— a young school already boasting tremendous successes— knew it needed to find exactly the right leader to shepherda second decade of growth. It needed someone who un-derstood the dynamics of marrying top-tier academics andathletics. Someone who fully understood and embraced theidiosyncrasies of ski racing. Someone with the wherewithal,energy and vision to — borrowing from Jim Collins — makea good school great.Enter former Dartmouth racer Tracy Keller, for whom SBAdid not have to look far despite a global search.“Our process included candidates from around the world,”says Bill Hudson, the executive director of the Sugar BowlSki Team Foundation. “In the end, the board of trustees andmyself kept returning to Tracy. Her combined knowledge ofskiing and academics is really hard to find — there was justno doubt that we had the best person for the job already onstaff.”Keller had worked as an SBA dorm parent, teacher andcoach before taking on administrative roles at the school —first as the dean of students and college counselor, then asinterim and finally full-time head of school.“Even though I’ve been here since I was just out of college,”Keller says, “I feel like I’m just settling into [my new posi-tion].”Modesty about the transition aside, Hudson says that in thetwo years she’s been head, Keller’s leadership has alreadybrought immense progress for SBA.“Tracy has been charged with growing the full-time student